4G SIM NewsEarlier this week, at Mobile World Congress, Panasonic unveiled a new 4G-equipped monitoring camera that is designed to keep a watch on your home while you’re away.
The Panasonic Nubo, a 4G equipped security camera, is likely to provide serious competition to WiFi monitoring cameras such as Dropcam. It doesn’t require a WiFi connection, or to be continually plugged in to work. The Nubo has a motion camera to detect and start recording whenever someone enters the area being monitored. Once a video clip has been recorded the device will send the clip to the cloud via a 4G connection, and will notify you via your connected mobile device. In addition to 4G, the Nubo device also works on 2G, 3G and WiFi.
The device comes with a companion app that handles alerts from the 4G camera and also allows you to amend its settings on iOS or Android. It allows you to remotely change to different modes including live view, auto (to detect motion), full (to record continuously), and private (to temporarily switch the camera off). The app also provides video playback and a timeline of alerts to indicate when movement was detected.
Here are some of the features of the Panasonic Nubo:
- Infrared detector to work in low lighting
- A built in microphone and speaker to allow two-way communication
- Video recording in 5, 10, 30 or 60 second clips
- The ability to analyse footage and differentiate between pets and humans
- External USB battery connection for power outages
- IP66 certification to enable the device to be used outdoors
- Magnetic mount for easy setup
- MicroSD slot for onboard video storage
- Compatibility with home automation gadgets such as Belkin’s WeMo line
The Nubo 4G camera can be used to monitor a range of locations, from your house and garden to building sites and storage units. It can easily be moved from place to place without the need for installation. Security of stored video on the cloud may be an issue for some, but with bank-level SSL security and password encryption it doesn’t need to be.
According to Tijmen Vos, CTO of Panasonic Cameramanager, “Consumers have long had to compromise on mobility and connectivity when it came to their surveillance needs, bound either by location or connectivity. Our vision is to deliver a product that allows users the freedom and flexibility of choosing where the camera can be used and the confidence in knowing that the data created is securely transmitted and stored. With the introduction of Nubo, we’re putting the control of safety and surveillance into the user’s hands.”
Although it is not yet known exactly when the 4G cameras will be available in the UK, it is likely to be Q4 2015, with Vodafone as the 4G provider. The device will be available to order in April. On top of the device which is expected to cost around £160, customers will buy a data plan based on the number of videos they expect to record during a month. Shorter video clips will use less data than longer video clips. Panasonic will soon be launching as an MVNO using Vodafone’s infrastructure, and service plans for the Nubo on this network will start at £5 a month which will include 250 alarms per month and seven days of cloud storage for video clips.